The Reason
by gleekyk
Summary: "What was the reason that he shouldn't sleep with that girl at the bar? It was Robin. The reason was Robin." I have to say, this is my favorite HIMYM fic that I've written. It's worth your time, I promise.


**A/N: Another Barney and Robin fan fiction I just keep getting these ideas and can't help myself. R&R ;) It's going to be a one shot. I have to say that this is my favorite fiction that I've ever written. It took me a long time! So I really hope that you guys like it! Also, just a general reminder that I'm not the best proofreader in the world, and apologies if I made a mistake.**

Barney was really good at his job. He was really good at laser tag. He was really good at picking up women. There was one thing that he had never been any good at. It was a pesky little thing called feelings. That's why he was scared to tell anyone, even his good friend Lily, who always seemed to be able to solve his problems, when he began to develop them. He wasn't even sure that he understood them fully himself. He slept with Robin once. How was it possible to fall in love after having sex only once?

Maybe it wasn't the sex that made him love her. He knew all the things that made him like her. She was awesome. The best laser tag partner he ever had, not to mention an exceptional wing woman. She said awesome things and did awesome things and drank scotch like a champion. Those were all the things that he liked about her, but what was it about her that made him love her?

Was it the look in her eyes when she told him that Simon had dumped her? He's never felt as awful for a woman as he did when she look down, tears in her eyes. Tears were generally a good thing when it came to women. Tears were usually a sign of vulnerability or daddy issues, which were of course two of Barney's biggest turn ons, except when it came to Robin. Her daddy issues broke his heart, and her vulnerability made him want to protect her. That's not the way he treated women. He exploited and dumped them.

He hoped that at Ted's wedding he could show Robin affection in the only way that he knew how. He had the whole thing planned out, but the thing about Barney is that he tends to chicken out. He's more comfortable with what he's used to, and what he's used to are random hook ups and one night stand, not romance and love.

Love. The word was enough to send him running miles in the opposite direction, but damn it he loved Robin Scherbatsky in ways that he thought were only possible for someone like Ted. Someone who was out there looking for the head over heels feelings. He loved Robin.

He pretended like he didn't though, because that's what he was best at. He was best at pretending. He pretended like it didn't drive him crazy to see her with all those other guys, and that his heart didn't break into a million pieces when she started sleeping with his best friend. He listened to the stories through gritted teeth. Tried to tell Ted how awesome it was, how he should keep sleeping with Robin. Why wouldn't Ted want to sleep with her? Who wouldn't want to?

Barney was the kind of guy that promoted all sex, but sex with the same person more than once leads to relationships, and he wasn't sure he could watch Ted be in a relationship with Robin. He wanted Ted to be happy, but not with Robin. With anyone in this world but Robin. It was pretty selfish of him when he thought about it. He didn't want anyone to be with Robin in any way, yet he was too afraid to tell her that he wanted to be with her.

"You need to tell her." Lily said. It was another day at their usual booth at MacLaren's. She was so demanding for such a tiny little thing. "This had been going on for months; you just need to tell her how you feel."

He scowled, because that's what he did when someone accused him of having human emotions. It was funny, because that's what Robin did too. He noticed little similarities between them often, and he couldn't help think that each one was another reason why they were perfect for each other. "The Barnman doesn't do feelings."

"So you're just going to go on without telling her? What happens when she find someone that she really likes, someone that's not afraid to tell her how he feels. Are you going to be okay with losing her?"

"Losing her? Lily, settle down. There's nothing to lose. We're just friends, and that's how it's going to stay." Lily shook her head.

"You're unbelievable. I give up. Figure this whole Robin thing out on your own." She walked out of the bar, something that Lily rarely did. This left Barney alone with his drink and his thoughts. It would never work, him and Robin. He tried to tell her how he felt before, but she didn't even understand what he was saying. Yes, it was better for both of them if they were just friend. It's not like either of them knew how to be in a real relationship. They were both pretty relationship impaired.

He sat alone in the bar. He could have picked up the girl at the bar tonight, she looked pretty dumb, but he just couldn't. He couldn't think of one good reason to sleep with that girl tonight, which was ridiculous. There was always a good reason to sleep with a stupid girl.

"Where did everyone go?" Robin asked, sitting across from him. It was the last person that he wanted to see and the one he wanted to see more than anything. He shrugged not looking at her. "What's wrong with you?" She asked. She was in one of her good moods.

He looked up at her, narrowing her eye. "Nothing is wrong with me, okay?" He didn't know why he was acting this way. Robin hadn't done anything to him.

"Whoa, check out blondie at the bar. Looks like an easy kill. Shall I introduce you?"

"No, Robin." He said, raising his voice for a reason he didn't know. "If I wanted your wing women help I'd ask you."

"What's going on with you?"

"Nothing, I'm just sick of hanging out with you, okay? Maybe you should go find someone who wants you around all the time." He could see that she was hurt, and wished he could take the words back the second that he said them.

"Fine." She said, picking up her purse. "I'll take care of that problem for you. Have a nice night Barney." He's never heard a sentence so filled with sarcasm in his life. He hurt her feelings and he could tell. He should have run after her, said that he was being ridiculous and tell her the truth: that he would never get sick of hanging out with her and he didn't want her to find anybody else, but he just sat there and finished his drink.

He would have sat there all night, but his tipsy mind started to wonder. He had never tried to come up with a reason to sleep with a woman. He instead would always think of a reason why he shouldn't. He never could find one. What was the reason that he shouldn't sleep with that girl at the bar? She was hot. She looked easy enough. But there was a reason that he wasn't, and it wasn't because he was suddenly becoming someone with morals.

The reason was Robin. Robin was the reason that he didn't want to sleep with a random girl that he met at a bar. She was the reason that he was sitting there at this bar alone instead of home with easy hot blonde. She was the reason that he wanted to learn how to be a good boyfriend, something that he never wanted before. She was the reason that he felt like a complete asshole, because he said something stupid, like he usually did, and he hurt her. Robin was the reason that he wanted to stop pretending to be a better man and start being the best man that he could be. For her.

He knew that he wasn't perfect. He had made some pretty big mistakes, and he wouldn't understand why someone as awesome as Robin would want to be with him, but he had to give it a chance. He had to tell her that he loved her, and whatever happened next he would just have to accept. Robin deserved to know that she had changed his life without even trying; all she had to do was look at him.

He ran up to Robin and Ted's apartment, thinking of what he was going to say to her, how he was going to say it. He was going to tell her that he loved her. No that was too forward, Robin would never like that. He was going to use a line and get her in bed. No, wait, he wasn't trying to get her bed. This was going to be hard. He could talk to women about what positions they liked, and how far away his apartment was, but he wasn't very good and talking to women about how he felt, because there had never really been much to talk about.

There he was, in front of her apartment door. Did he knock? No that was weird. He never knocked before, although Robin was pretty pissed at him, maybe he should. This is crazy, why is he thinking so much? He opened the door and let himself in. "Robin!" He called out. "Robin!"

"What?" She asked, coming out of her bedroom, fastening her robe. He couldn't help but wonder what was under that robe, not that he had to use his imagination when it came to that. He had Robin's naked body saved in a very special file in his brain. She looked like she was still irritated with him, as she probably should be. He could be a real dick when he's trying to hide his feelings. He started second guessing himself, wondering if coming up here was the best idea. "Barney, what do you want?" She didn't sound quiet so mad, annoyed, yes, maybe even a little bit confused, but he was glad to note that all anger was gone from her voice.

He smiled like a fool, he couldn't help it. It was just her. "I have to tell you something."

She looked at the clock. "It's pretty late."

"Were you sleeping?"

She looked at the floor. "I thought that you were sick of hanging out with me?"

"I did say that didn't I?" She nodded, and he saw how to heart she truly took it. He hated his stupid mouth for never speaking what was on his mind, and instead hurting the people that he loved. "I'm a dick. "He finally said.

She looked up, seeming to be interested in the conversation for the first time since Barney had barged into her apartment. "Go on." She said, a grin starting to form on her face. She definitely wasn't mad anymore. That was a plus. It was a long way from love, but he was in a better spot then he was five minutes ago.

"I didn't want to go home with that girl at the bar."

"You're so picky." Robin said, shaking her head. "She was at least a nine. You can't have tens every night you know."

"No. That's not why I didn't want to go home with her. I was thinking about the reason that I didn't want to go home with her, and all I would think about was you?"

"Me?" She asked confused.

"You're the reason, Robin." It felt so good to say it out loud. "The reason that I want to change my life around. The reason that I want to stop having sex with a different girl every night. The reason that I started thinking about having a family some day and even doing something crazy like stay with the same woman for the rest of my life. You're the reason that I want to stop pretending like all of these hook ups make me happy, and become someone's boyfriend. It's you, Robin. The reason is you."

She understood the words that he said, but it didn't make her any less confused. "You're saying that you want to change?"

"I have changed."

"You're saying that you've changed because of me."

He stood there, just looking at her wishing that she was easier to read. "There's a part of me that you don't know." He continued. "And I really want to show you that side of me."

She shook her head. "How do I know that you're serious about this, Barney? I feel like signing up for a relationship with you would be like setting myself up to get hurt or… or cheated on."

"You think I would ever cheat on you?"

"Yeah, Barney, it kind of seems like your style."

Now he was hurt. He knew that he had no right to be, because she had every reason to believe that he would cheat on her. If he saw the way that he acted with women, he would probably think the same of himself. "I would never cheat on you." He said quietly, but not taking his eyes from her's. "Any other girl in this city… she just couldn't compare to you, because you're Robin Scherbatsky, and the guy that would do anything to lose you is the stupidest guy in the world. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm telling you all of this, because damn it, I'm not going to be that guy that missed his chance with the most amazing girl that he's ever met because he was too afraid to tell her how he felt. So if you say no, then that's fine, but I don't regret coming here, because now at least you know, and don't ever think that I would cheat on you, because I may be a lot of things, but a complete idiot isn't one of them." She turned away, not meeting her eye anymore, and walked out. He knew how Robin felt, and really he couldn't blame her, but he sure as hell couldn't be in that apartment for another second.

"Barney wait!" He said when he was half way to the stairs. He turned around at the sound of Robin's voice. He was thinking of something to say, but didn't have time before she picked up again. "You're the reason that I wear sundresses to MacLaren's on a Tuesday night. You're the reason that I smile when I'm getting into my pajamas every night, because you probably said or did something that really just made my day." She took a step in his direction with every word that she spoke, as if her words were all that separated them. "You're the reason that I wake up every morning and think that today's going to be a good one. You're the reason that I started imagining myself as a mother, holding a little blonde baby fully dressed in a suit. You're the reason that I'm scared to open myself up to someone who could so easily hurt me, because there so much of me that I know I'm willing to give him." She stood right in front of him, closing any gap that there may have been. She smiled. "You're the reason, Barney."

He grabbed her face and kissed her the way that he'd been dreaming of since his mouth had last been on her's. She wrapped her arms around his neck; her fingers tangling in his hair, and his hands trailed down her back and found their place on her waist. He could feel her heart racing with his own, and he knew that he had made the right decision. No other woman in the world could do this to him with just a kiss.

They both gasped for air when they finally pulled away. She was still close enough that he could lean over and kiss her again, and something told him that she wouldn't protest, but he just couldn't stop looking into those eyes. Eyes had never been something that intrigued him before; they usually were filled with emotions and fears. He saw everything in Robin's eyes. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he knew that that would just scare her off.

"You're the reason." He repeated for about the fifteenth time that night. She smiled like he'd never seen her smile before, and he knew.

She was a good enough reason.


End file.
